What does it mean to be “Hispanic” these days?

Apparently the Portugese Supreme Court Justice Bejamin Cardozo is not hispanic, but Sotomayor, who descends from Puerto Rico, an American Colony, is.

Are Brazilians hispanic? Doesn’t seem like it, despite Brazilians being Portuguese and Portugal being on the Iberian Peninsula — which in Roman times was “Hispania”.

Miguel Estrada somehow was an insult to hispanicdom and had his life ripped to shreds so they could keep the supposed “first latino” seat warm for Sotomayor. (And, in all seriousness here, what is the difference between “hispanic” and “latino”?)

Mel Martinez loves to paste on his thick latino accent when talking liberal talk about immigration issues, but somehow Rubio doesn’t make the cut as a true hispanic.

I am confused.

This should be required reading by everyone under the sun.

In 1913, for instance, thinking it was being overcharged by the steel companies for armor plate for warships, the federal government decided to build its own plant. It estimated that a plant with a 10,000-ton annual capacity could produce armor plate for only 70% of what the steel companies charged.

When the plant was finally finished, however — three years after World War I had ended — it was millions over budget and able to produce armor plate only at twice what the steel companies charged. It produced one batch and then shut down, never to reopen.

The reasons listed for why government can’t run businesses include:

1. Governments are run by politicians, not businessmen.
2. Politicians need headlines.
3. Government does not tolerate competition.
4. Government enterprises are almost always monopolies and thus do not face competition at all.
5. Successful corporations are run by benevolent despots.
6. Government is regulated by government.

John Cornyn has lined up with the nutless wonder that is the Senate Republican Leader in bending over backwards to condemn Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich for calling Judge Sotomayor’s racist comments “racist”.

Meanwhile, Judge Sotomayor has backed away from her comments today realizing they were, in fact, inappropriate.

Now here is the problem:

Senator Cornyn apparently believes that we must “court” the hispanic vote by pandering and avoiding conflict, but not by supporting conservative hispanics.

What in God’s name happens to good men when they get to Washington?!

Come on Senator, you have been so awesome. Don’t go wobbly now.

Barack Obama went to Five Guys today for a burger. There he met a government employee who worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency — a spy agency within the Pentagon that, you’d assume, contributes information to the President’s Daily Briefing.

One problem, Barack Obama had never heard of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Had Obama been President Bush, the national networks would have broken in to normal programming to highlight the fact.

Is Barack Obama even getting real intelligence briefings? Given how he’s handled GTMO, etc. maybe he isn’t. That would certainly explain why the man charged with keeping this country safe has never heard of one of his own spy agencies.

The more we give to Marco Rubio, the more the folks at the NRSC have to realize we mean business.

Editor’s Note: the following widgets link to Marco Rubio’s website and are not run through RedState.com. RedState does not process, direct, or otherwise collect money for candidates. We just like Marco and hope you’ll support him over Crist.

Democrats are in an uproar over new revelations that the Bush Administration’s political appointees in the Department of Justice overruled career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division who were in civil litigation against a group of white conservative activists engaged in voter intimidation tactics on Election Day.

More troubling, the Department of Justice had obtained a default judgment against the defendants and the political appointees ordered the career lawyers to go no further, despite having judgment in hand.

Democrat John Lewis (D-GA) is demanding an investigation saying not since civil rights activists were attacked by dogs in the sixties has the government so cavalierly disregarded the basic civil rights of its citizens.

Except that’s not the story at all.

Consequently, there is no outrage by Democrats.

The voter intimidation happened by Black Panthers who supported Barack Obama.

It was Barack Obama’s political appointees who shut down career lawyers going after the Black Panthers for voter intimidation.

And the mainstream media yawns.

Thankful, the Washington Times is on the story.

Some want the White House to make Judge Sotomayor say she “misspoke.”

Some Democrats and political analysts are urging the White House to shift course and concede that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor made an error when she suggested in 2001 that Hispanic women would make better judges than white men.

“She misspoke,” said Lanny Davis, a White House lawyer and spokesman for President Bill Clinton. “Every day that goes by that they don’t say she misspoke and she used the wrong words … they just feed it and give it life and give Rush [Limbaugh] and [Sean] Hannity more airtime unnecessarily.”

How exactly is saying what you believe misspeaking?

I think it was very honest of her, but let’s also be honest. Were a white man to say “I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Latina female who hasn’t lived that life,” he’d be dragged out onto the National Mall and beaten to death by the left and right alike. Heck, he would not have even gotten the nomination.

A white man would not be given the chance to say he misspoke on something like that.

Judge Sotomayor’s statement reflects her view that she sees the world through her experience, and not through the text of the constitution. That is probably why many lawyers find her rulings unpredictable. And unpredictable justice is no justice.

Judge Sotomayor’s statement reflects a race based world view. But then again, that’s no different from the guy who nominated. She told what she believed to be true. The Obama administration should be forced to deal with it as they believe the same thing.

We need somebody who’s got the heart—the empathy—to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old—and that’s the criteria by which I’ll be selecting my judges. Alright?

— Barack Obama

It is increasingly clear that the Barack Obama Administration just makes stuff up and expects no one to catch them.

Jake Tapper, however, caught one whopper today.

TAPPER: All right. Just to follow up, I looked at your “100 Days, 100 Projects” booklet yesterday, and the very first one says, quote, “Using $27 million of Recovery Act funding a public housing development in D.C., the Regency House, has undergone a green retrofit. As part of this upgrade, the building installed solar panels, green roof, rainwater collection system, energy-efficient lighting, as well as water-conserving toilets, showerheads and faucets.” But when I called the D.C. Housing Authority, they said only $59,000 was spent of stimulus money, not $27 million, and of these seven things mentioned, only two of the seven were actually done –

GIBBS: I think the mistake — mistake in that one, as you blogged about earlier, took a series of different projects in a cut- and-paste into one.

TAPPER: OK. So it wasn’t as clear and — it wasn’t as accurate as it could have been?

GIBBS: I — I think that’s accurate to say, yes.

But how many mistakes will be allowed before the media recognizing the administration has decided to serially lie?

Just yesterday Barack Obama claimed his stimulus package “saved or created nearly 100 — 150,000 jobs” when in reality 16,000 jobs have been lost every single day since the stimulus was passed.

Was the “saved or created” statement cut and pasted onto the Teleprompter? was it a mistake or a lie? Because it certainly is not true.

Senator John Cornyn has been on the receiving end of a lot of punches lately over the NRSC’s decision to endorse Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate race.

A lot of it is fair criticism, especially considering only days before he endorsed Crist, Senator Cornyn said the NRSC would stay neutral. Not all of the criticism is fair, however. I would crawl over broken glass to get John Cornyn re-elected to the Senate. He is a great leader, a genuinely good person, and an articulate spokesman for the GOP.

But he has badly miscalculated on the Rubio matter and his miscalculation has been made greater by his failure to endorse Ted Cruz in the Texas Republican primary for Texas Attorney General — a position Cornyn himself once held.

John Cornyn is known to believe the GOP must engage in effective outreach to the Hispanic community in order to expand its coalition. He has, in the past, encouraged Hispanic involvement in the GOP and has tried to encourage good Hispanic Republicans to seek office.

Right now, Senate Republicans are running scared of the Sotomayor nomination because they don’t want to be seen as burning bridges with the Hispanic community. The Senate Republican leadership, typically feckless and cowardly the moment controversy arises, is gun shy.

It did not have to be that way. Had Cornyn practiced what he regularly preaches, the GOP would not be in the box.

Were Marco Rubio the GOP’s preferred candidate for the United States Senate, Rubio would be in a position to serve as a credible GOP voice on Sotomayor. Had the NRSC only made a different choice, the choices Republicans Senators now make regarding Sotomayor would be easier.

Likewise, had Senator Cornyn endorsed Ted Cruz, he would have even greater authority on the issue of Hispanics being welcome in the Republican Party.

While some have argued Ted Cruz is not significantly accomplished enough to be Attorney General, and therefore not worth big name Republicans like Cornyn bothering with him, arguably his opponent in the Republican primary is less so. Cruz is the only Hispanic to have ever served as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the United States. He served for five years as Solicitor General of Texas, a position John Cornyn created when Cornyn was Attorney General. Cruz is an immigrant living the American dream.

He would be an articulate voice the Republicans could use to combat the media’s charges of racism should the GOP get a spine and oppose the Sotomayor nomination.

Had John Cornyn only practiced what he preached, he could be leading the GOP on a path out of the wilderness with a more diverse group of candidates and elected officials.

There is still time. He could both endorse a guy like Ted Cruz and move the NRSC to being neutral in Florida or at least publicly pledging to spend not one penny, directly or indirectly, to help Charlie Crist — a white Pennsylvania transplant running against Rubio, the articulate Hispanic candidate who embodies all that Cornyn says the GOP needs.

The GOP could oppose Sotomayor without alienating Hispanics if only they would, you know, start supporting Hispanic candidates. John Cornyn could lead the way.

[UPDATE]: Moe Lane here, with a question.  If this latest in what have been a series of snubs doesn’t persuade you that the current administration simply doesn’t like the British very much, I have a question: what will?

That’s a serious question that you should be asking, even if it’s just to yourself.

It seems like very bad form and a serious breach of diplomatic protocol to not invite the only Head of State still living to have served in the Allied military in World War II to commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day with you.

I mean, after all, her country staged the invasion and her troops fought along side yours.

Rather selfish.

Consider this an open thread.

“Gov. Crist signs $66.5 billion budget, breaks tax pledge”, the St. Petersburg Times headline reads.

This is the man the Senate Republican leadership has lined up behind. This is one of the men on whom the GOP will rely to rebuild the Republican majority.

For what?

Why have a Republican majority when we will get nothing different than what the Democrats offer?

There remains no compelling reason for the National Republican Senatorial Committee to have endorsed Charlie Crist. None.

And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

— Mark 14:30 (ESV)

All of us, every single person regardless of political persuasion who reads this, have a tendency to deny our friends and fellow travelers at times. All of us.

Peter, under pressure and fear, denied Christ not just once, but three times. Peter, though, feared death. The strain on Peter was great. The rest of us, though, typically fear the opinions of others.

There are those who like it when we feel guilty for associating with someone. More troubling, in the conservative movement and in the greater right-of-center coalition, there are many, many fellow traveller who would rather spend their time throwing their own under the bus than fighting the left.

Their typical means of ostracism is to condemn the rest of us for daring to say nice things about them. Reasons abound for this. Many of these weak minded fools are not really fellow travelers. Like a vulture flying in flock with swans, they benefit from the work the rest of us are doing to gain themselves credibility. The media plays along calling the vultures swans so others, they hope, see ugly ducklings around the vultures instead of swans.

Some mean well. Unfortunately, their high mindedness fractures and divides the rest.

Read More →

The House Republicans have put together some data your local mainstream media outlet probably will shy away from discussing.

Today, Barack Obama told the public, “In these last few months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has saved or created nearly 100 — 150,000 jobs”?

But that’s just not true. 16,000 jobs have been lost every single day since Barry’s stimulus plan was passed.

At some point the media cannot ignore Barack Obama and the Democrats killing the American private sector economy while claiming to “save or create” American jobs.

And note to the Democrats: creating government paper pushers is not the same as creating or saving private sector jobs. That is the Democrat rebuttal — they created government jobs.

Only the Democrats think more bureaucrats will save America.

If you have already registered for the August 1, 2009, gathering, you’ll get an email today with a special website address from which you can make your reservations in Atlanta.

Those of you who have not yet registered will see the web address upon registering.

Make your reservation by June 1, 2009, and the rate will be $99.00 for both Friday night and Saturday night. You can and probably will want to have a reservation for both the nights of Friday, July 31, 2009, and Saturday, August 1, 2009.

GO HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT. Remember, it’s only $15.00 to attend, plus the costs of travel and hotel. We’ll be providing free breakfasts and a free lunch on Saturday.

Here is the list of people we have invited to speak, though not all of them have confirmed yet:

Governor Mark Sanford
Senator Jim DeMint
Congressman Mike Pence
Congressman Tom Price
Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel
Florida Speaker of the House Marco Rubio

After June 1, 2009, the room rate will increase to $119.00 both nights. Remember that breakfast will be provided, free of charge, both Saturday morning and Sunday morning. Lunch will also be provided on Saturday.

There will be a Friday night reception as well.

I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.

We have reached the point in this country where the people who act responsibly are forced to carry the load for the irresponsible.

Consider this an open thread.

Conservatives rejoice. Of all the picks Obama could have picked, he picked the most intellectually shallow.

Even the New Republic has been rather scathing about her. It’s like Obama decided he wanted a Souter to replace Souter.

The year is 2003. Tom Ridge is chatting, explaining what’s going on with Homeland Security, having a seemingly good time. His good natured counterpart in the conversation lets Ridge run with the conversation.

The other party in the conversation is Rush Limbaugh. Ridge had called into Rush’s show.

Over the past twenty years Rush has been on the air, people like Powell, Ridge, and others have had no problem using Rush to air their policy views, defend themselves, and chat.

And in those twenty years, as anyone who has regularly listened to Rush can tell you, the substantive coverage of issues has increased, not decreased. As Rush has become better educated over the last two decades on issues, we all have too. But Rush’s consistency of principle, conservatism, and humor have not changed.

Now, twenty years after Rush began, some Republicans who once fell all over themselves to get on the air with him, have decided he is too shrill, too conservative, and too harmful to the cause.

What they do not seem to notice is that Rush has not changed. They have. The ground has not shifted to the left. They have shifted to the left. They have become Vichy Republicans — not Republicans in Name Only. The difference is that they stand on their bona fides as Republicans, patted on the back by other Republicans of unquestioned party affiliation, to sell out the party by collaborating with the Democrats.

During World War II, the Vichy Regime arguable ran France as an independent nation, but were puppets of the Axis powers. In Norway, a similar situation occurred under the illegitimate regime of Vidkun Quisling. Today we use the word “quislings” to refer to those who collaborate with and help the enemy.

Call Powell, Ridge, etc. quislings, Vichy Republicans or whatever you like, but one thing is clear — these respected men have chosen to use their positions and media adoration to take on not Rush and Dick Cheney, but conservatives. Like Obama using various bank executives as a proxy to fight the free market, these men and others are using Limbaugh, Cheney, and others as proxies to fight conservatism in general.

Why? Because Cheney, Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, Coulter, and others are burning down their potemkim village — their facade of being both reasonable and on the right.

Read More →

This morning a bomb went off outside a Starbucks in New York City.

This afternoon, I received this email from Justin Ruben at MoveOn.org:

You’ve probably heard about the illegal, anti-union tactics of retail giants like Walmart. But did you know that Starbucks has been found guilty of those same tactics?

Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ billionaire owner, has made it a priority to keep unions out of Starbucks. But our friends at Brave New Films are fighting back. They’ve put together a video documenting the harassment and intimidation that Starbucks workers have faced.

Check out the surprising video below and sign the memo telling Schultz that Starbucks must let workers exercise their rights and unionize.

Talk about bad timing. Way to go, MoveOn — first you defend terrorists during the war, then you attack a company that just had one of its stores bombed.

American Revolution

4,435 battle deaths

War of 1812

2,260 battle deaths

Indian Wars

1,000 battle deaths

Mexican War

1,733 battle deaths

Civil War

140,414 Union battle deaths
74,524 Confederate battle deaths

Spanish-American War

385 battle deaths

World War I

53,402 battle deaths

World War II

291,557 battle deaths

Korean War

33,741 battle deaths

Vietnam War

47,424 battle deaths

Desert Shield/Desert Storm

147 battle deaths

Afghanistan

463 battle deaths to present

Iraq War

3,760 battle deaths to present

source

Editor’s Note: the following widgets link to Marco Rubio’s website and are not run through RedState.com. RedState does not process, direct, or otherwise collect money for candidates. We just like Marco and hope you’ll support him over Crist.